Stop mechanism control means for knitting machines



D. PERNICK STOP MECHANISM CONTROL MEANS FOR KNITTINGMACHINES March 4,1958 Filed May 25, 1955 INVENTOR. 24/40 PA /Wm 2,825,214 Patented Mar.4, 1953 STOP MECHANISM CONTROL MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES DavidPernick, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application May 25, 1955, Serial No. 510,920

8 Claims. (Cl. 66-163) The present invention relates to knittingmachines of the flatbed type, such as Tricot and Raschel knittingmachines and the like, having thread guides for moving the threads aboutthe needles to form loops and, more particularly, to control means for aknock-off or stop mechanism for such machines, which .control means arean improvement over the control means disclosed in co-pendingapplication for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 434,725,filed June 7, 1954, by me and another, which application has maturedinto Patent No. 2,752,767, of July 3, 1956.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide suchcontrol means which are more readily associated with the thread guides.

Another object is to provide such control means which respond morereadily to actuate the stop mechanism under the influence of oscillationupon loss of tension in the threads caused by breakage or otherwise.

Another object is to provide such control means which prevent thethreads from slipping behind the control member or feeler.

Another object is to provide control members or feelers which arereadily assembled to and removed from the thread guides.

A further object is to provide such control means which are simple,practical and economical in construction and are reliable in operation.

Other and further objects will be obvious upon an understanding of theillustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated inthe appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein willoccur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention inpractice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a guide bar and threadguides equipped with control means in accordance with the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 on Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 on Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating another embodiment ofthe invention; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 on Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawing in detail, the thread guidesection of a straight knitting machine of the Raschel or Tricot type,for example, is shown which includes a guide bar 10, a switch contactelement 11 adjacent the guide bar and out of electrical connectiontherewith, adjacently spaced thread guides 12 carried by the bar, eachhaving an aperture 14 at its lower end through which a thread T isadapted to pass and be maintained in a predetermined path, and loss ofthread tension feeler for each thread guide serving as control means forthe stop mechanism in the manner about to be described.

In this embodiment of the invention, feelers 15 are shown which aremounted for pivotal movement adjacent the thread guides 12. Thesefeelers are formed of stilt wire, and have an upper end portion 16,adapted to contact the element 11, an intermediate arcuate portion 17,and a horizontal lower end portion 18 adapted to move between adjacentthread guides and terminating in a fork-like head 19 formed withoutwardly extending tips 20.

The thread passes between the prongs of this fork-like structure, asshown in Fig. 2, and, while the thread is under tension, it maintainsthe feeler in a position whereby the portion 16 cannot contact theelement 11. The

tips 20 engage the front edges of the guides adjacent thereto and act asstops to limit the movement of the feelers inwardly and between theguides. These tips also confine the thread in a manner to prevent thesame from getting in back of the feeler. the tips of adjacent feelersfrom interfering with each other, the fork is inclined sidewise withrespect to a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar 10 (Fig.1), whereby adjacent tips-are in overlapping relation (Figs. 1 and 4).

Another feature of the feelers 15 is that they are removably mounted.This is accomplished by forming the upper ends of the thread guides 14with aligned apertures through which a rod or wire 21 extends, and rotatably mounting bushings 22 on the rod adjacent each guide. The bushings22 are grooved or recessed (Fig. 3) at 23 about their periphery forreceiving the arcuate section 17 of the feeler which resiliently gripsthe bushing to mount the feeler for movement therewith. An advantage ofthis arrangement is that the feelers can be removed while rethreadingthe guides adjacent thereto and can be readily snapped back into place.

The rod 21 serves as an electrical conductor and the bushings 22 serveto place the feelers in electrical connection therewith, whereby thefeeler portions 16 serve as switch means between the element 11 and therod 21.

In Figs. 5 and 6, another embodiment of the present invention isillustrated, wherein feelers are slidably mounted on the guides 12. Thisarrangement comprises a horizontal tube 25 secured at one end thereof tothe guide 12 near its aperture 14 and having an upwardly facing slot 26at its other end, and a feeler 27 having a shank or stem portion 29slidably mounted in the tube 25 and formed with an upwardly projectingportion 30 at one end adapted to ride in the slot 26 and engage thecontact element 11 upon movement of the feeler caused by loss of threadtension. The other end of the shank portion 29 carries a bifurcatedthread receiving head 31 provided with tips 32 for engaging the frontedges of the guides adjacent thereto. These heads function in the samemanner as the heads 19 to prevent the threads from getting in back ofthe feelers.

In operation, when the threads T are normally tensioned and pass throughthe apertures 14 the guides 12,

the feelers 15 (Figs. 1 to 4) and 27 (Figs. 5 and 6) are prevented bythe threads from moving in a direction to make contact with the element11 or 11', respectively. However, should a thread lose its tensionbecause of breakage or otherwise and fail to so restrain its feeler, thefeeler is free to move into contact with the element 11 under theinfluence of the guide bar oscillation, whereby a circuit (not shown) isclosed for effecting stoppage of the machine.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the presentinvention provides novel and improved feelers for eifecting stoppage ofa knitting machine or the like.

As various changes may be made in the fonn, construc- In order toprevent- 3 tion, and arrangement'ofthe parts herein, withoutdepartingsfrom.thesspiritandscope of-the.invention and withoutsacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that allmatters are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in anylimitingsense;

What is claimed is:

1; In a-knitting machine of the class described, thecombinati'orr of anoscillating bar, a switch contact element adjacent' said bar and out ofelectrical connection therewith, apertured thread guide means carried bysaid bar through which a thread isadapted to pass and be maintainedthereby ina =predetermined path, and a member mounted for movementadjacent said guide means constructed and arranged for'oscillation withsaid bar and said guide means thereon and for movement in a path toengage said contact-element, said member havingstop means for engagingsaid' thread guide means to limit the extent of movement of'said memberwith respect to said guide means and hav ing a thread'guide grooveadjacent said stop means which is engaged by the thread while maintainedin its predetermined path to restrain said member against movement intocontact with said element and which when released upon failure of thethread being maintained in its predetermined path causes said member tobe influenced by the oscillation thereof to move into contact with saidelement, said thread guide groove and said stop means cooperating toprevent the thread from slipping behind said member.

2. A knitting machine according to claim 1, wherein said member ispivotally mounted.

3. A knitting machine according to claim 1, wherein said thread guidegroove and said stop means are constituted by a U-shaped head havinglaterally outwardly extending tips;

4. A knitting machine according to claim 3, wherein said head isinclined sidewisc with respect to a plane parallel to the longitudinalaxis of said bar.

5. A knitting machine according to claim 1, wherein said guide meansinclude a plurality of thread guides mounted in adjacently spacedrelation on said bar, and one of said movable members is provided foreach of said guides and said thread guide groove and said stop means areconstituted by a U-shaped head having laterally out- 4. wardly extendingtips adapted to engage adjacent thread guides, at the. forward edgesthereof.

6. In a knitting machine of the class described, the combination of anoscillating guide bar, a switch contact element adjacent said bar andout of electrical connection therewith, a thread guide carried by saidbar, laterally extending shaft means on said thread guide, a bushingmounted for rotation about said shaft means having a peripheral recess,and a lever constructed and arranged for oscillation with said-guide barand thread guide having an arcuate section extending into said recess toattach the same to said bushing, said lever having a portion adapted tocontact said element upon loss of tension in a thread passing throughsaid thread guide, said lever portion being normally prevented fromcontacting said element by the thread.

7. In a knitting machine of the class described, the combination of anoscillating guide bar, a switch contact element adjacent said bar andout of electrical connection therewith, a plurality of thread guidescarriedby said bar in adjacently spaced side by side relation, shaftmeans extending through said thread guides, bushings mounted forrotation about said shaft means each adjacent one of said thread guideshaving a peripheral groove, and loss of thread tension feelersconstructed and arranged for oscilla tion with said guide bar and threadguides each of said feelers having an arcuate section for mounting thesame on the groove of one of said bushings to attach said levers to saidbushings, said levers each having a portion adapted References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,942,524 Welch et al.Jan. 9, 1934 2,400,064 Bassist May 14, 1946 2,436,438 Kyner Feb. 24,1948

